New builds are light on features, focused on fixes.
Category: futurism – Page 1,320
Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: The Rise of China’s Tech Giants
Home to both Tmall (B2C) and Taobao (C2C)—China’s top online marketplaces—Alibaba has taken its legacy worldwide with foreign-facing AliExpress. But the real treasure trove of real-world data lies in Alipay, Alibaba’s mobile payments platform.
While mobile payments make up less than one percent of overall in-store transaction volume in the US, they are almost indispensable in China.
Pedestrians pay street-side fruit vendors using QR codes. Charitable givers use Alipay or Wechat Wallet when donating to relief funds or directly to affected families. And at one Hangzhou-based KFC, Alipay debuted the concept of paying with your face.
From 12/26/1965 edition of the Sunday comic strip “Our New Age”… Close enough 🙂
From 12/26/1965 edition of the Sunday comic strip “Our New Age”… Close enough 
🙂.
SpaceX’s futuristic Crew Dragon astronaut walkway is ready for US human spaceflight revival
SpaceX has publicly revealed the sleek, minimalist design of the access arm that NASA astronauts will soon use to board Crew Dragon spacecraft, bringing to an end more than half a decade of U.S. dependency upon non-native rockets and space agencies to transport crew to the International Space Station.
After several months of concerted effort in a tent located on Pad 39A property, SpaceX engineers, welders, and technicians have nearly completed the most critical portion of the launch facility modifications and upgrades necessary to return the pad’s human spaceflight capabilities. Known as a Crew Access Arm (CAA), SpaceX will likely complete installation of the Arm by the end of August, wrapping up what is by far the most visible step yet towards returning astronauts to the ISS on American rockets and spacecraft.
Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous
What happens when a nation built on the concept of individual property ownership starts to give that up?
Google tracks users who turn off location
A study from Associated Press suggests that users are still tracked even if they turn off location history.
The U.S. Needs a Cyber Force More Than a Space Force
Agree?
Trump shouldn’t be ridiculed for looking to the heavens, but a more urgent threat looms.
Halo theme added to Pence’s speech
This is epic.
How Did The Mayans Disappear? Researchers Think They Finally Know
Sediment samples from Lake Chichancanab in Mexico show that annual rainfall decreased by more than 50 percent at the end of Mayan civilization.